The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program by the inventor, Robert Edward Lee. The inventor's intention was to develop Rhododendron hybrid plants with re-blooming characteristics and good landscape performance. This new variety, hereinafter referred to as ‘BAILEA’, was discovered as a seedling, resulting from the crossing of Rhododendron ‘May Blaine, unpatented with the pollen parent Rhododendron ‘Fourth of July’, unpatented. The cross resulting in the new variety occurred during the Spring of 1994. The new variety was selected by the inventor during November of 1996 at a commercial nursery in Independence, La.
After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, the inventor first organized propagation of ‘BAILEA’ by vegetative cuttings Fall of 1998 at the same commercial nursery in Independence, La. The inventor continued controlled testing and propagation, assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety. At least three generations have been reproduced and have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.